Hato, meaning "sky pigeon" in Japanese, churned up Hong Kong, bringing a maximum category 10 storm, that also slammed into Macau on Wednesday Aug 23 leaving five dead in the gambling hub. It brought chaos and destruction to the enclave after sweeping through neighbouring Hong Kong with winds and rain that uprooted trees and forced most businesses to close. There were reports of at least 121 people injured in Hong Kong.

Macau media showed severe flooding with cars underwater and people swimming in Macau's city streets, with the territory's mega-casinos running on back-up generators.

The Macau government said one of the men died after being injured by a wall that blew down, another fell from a fourth floor terrace and another was a Chinese tourist hit by a truck. Details on the two others who died were not immediatelyavailable.

"All transportations - air, ground, sea - has been halted, so customers who have checked out cannot leave yet. Because many guests come in the summer, a lot of them have been stuck in the major resorts and casinos, " one employee said in Macau.

In Hong Kong, more than 450 flights were canceled, financial markets suspended and schools closed as Hato bore down. It was only the 15th No 10 signal since 1946, with the last being Typhoon Vicente in July 2012.

Hong Kong's Victoria Harbour was churned by large swells and big waves crashed onto some of the city's most popular beaches, with seriousflooding in low-lying areas. "Cars are half submerged and roads are impassable with flooding and huge trees down. It's crazy. I've never seen one like this," Garrett Quigley, a longtime resident of Lantau island to the west of the city, said of the storm.

A paralysed stock market, businessclosures, flight cancellations and the suspension of public transport were some of the disruptions caused by Hato, as market analysts put the economic cost to the city to be anywhere between HK$4 billion to HK $8 billion.